Mining-machine



(No Model.) 38heefls-Sheet 1.

F. M.. LEOHNER.

Mining Machine. No., 239,515. Patented. March 29,1881.

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N-FETERB, FHOTD-LITHDGRAPH'ER, WASHINGTON. D. Cv

(No Model.) 3 Shets -SheeffQ;

M. LEUHNER. MiningMaohine.

No. 239,515; Patented March2 9, I881.

mamas HOTO-UTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D C:

(No Model.) a Sheets-Sheet a;

P. M. LEGHNE'R.

f I @Y Mining-Machine. I a

No. 239,515. Patented March 29,1881.

,UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS M. LEOHNER, OF WAYNESBURG, ASSIGNOR TO THE LECHNER MINING MACHINE COMPANY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

MINING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 1\To. 239,515, dated March 29, 1881. Application filed November 19, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS M. LEOHNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Waynesburg, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mining-Machines and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

. and exact description of/the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,'reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specificathe rear brackets and pulleys of the cleanen chains. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the rear sliding standard and the detachable nut carried thereby. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the devices shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a top-plan view of the front portion of the mining-machine, showing the method of attaching and operating the cleaner-chains, the engine and the motor parts of the machine being removed. Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the machine with a modification of the withdrawing mechanism. Fig. Sis a side elevation of part of the devices shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a view of an octagon sprocket adapted for use upon the chain-driving shaft.

The invention relates to an improved arran gement of the operative parts of the mining-machine relative to the supporting-frame, whereby theengine may be made stationary, and the sliding carriage which supports the cutting apparatus may be relieved of the weight of the engine.

The invention relates, also, to an improved arrangement of the parts of a mining-machine, whereby it requires or occupies a space much less than that heretofore required.

It relates, further, to the combination, with pieces or braces.

the engine and cutting mechanism (the latter arranged both to reciprocate and also to rotate) of a screw-shaft construeted'and arranged to convey the power which reciprocates the cutting mechanism, and also the power which rotates said mechanism.

It relates, also, to the combination, with an engine and aslidin g cutter-carriage, of a. screwthreaded shaft, and-mechanism arranged to engage with said shaft for the purpose of withdrawing the cutter-carriage after the cutting has been completed.

It relates to an improvement in the devices for withdrawing the slack-or cuttings.-

It consists in various improvements in details of construction and arrangement which will be hereinafter fully set forth.

The parts not hereinafter set forth may be similar to those shown in any of the various patents issued to me heretofore, to Wit: Nos. 173,637, January 25,1876; 186,856, January 30, 1877; 197,734., December 4,1877; 211,100, January 7,1879; 223,626, January 13, 1880; and 232,280, September 14, 1880.

In the constructions sh own in these last said patents, use was made of engines having cylinders whose longitudinal axes were situated on vertical lines, and which engines, also,were attached to and carried by the sliding cuttercarriage. This style of construction necessitated the use of a high frameand of a complication of parts, which, under some circumstances, are undesirable; and one of the main purposes of this invention is to so construct and arrange the operative parts of a miningmachine that it shall occupy but a short diameter or dimension vertically. Another object is to relieve the sliding carriage of the weight of the engine or engines and the weight of the parts to which the engines first impart motion.

In the drawings, A A represent the side sills of a stationary bed-frame, and A cross Upon the inner side of the side-pieces, A A, ways are formed to support and guide a sliding frame. These ways may be of any of the species shown in my aforesaid patents, or of any approved character.

B B represent en ginecylinders constructed to operate by means of compressed air, or steam, or other motive agent. They are situated upon substantially horizontal lines,and are secured to the stationary frame-work. They may be attached in any preferred manner.

is the main shaft of the engine, supported above the rear end of the frame.- It is mounted in bracket-arms O C bolted to the rear end of the frame, as shown in Fig; 8.

The pistons 13 13 may be connected with the engine-shaft C in any suitable manner.

In the construction shown in the drawings, 1) b are slotted arms or yokes, engaging with the crank-pins c in a well-known manner. Instead of this construction, use. may be made, if desired, of pitmen or of oscillating engines.

A frame is arranged to slide upon the stationary frame above described, the sliding frame being supported on the stationary frame by means of tongue-bars or T-bars D. The sliding frame is represented as being formed of a substantially horizontal plate, E, an arched standard E, at the front end of the sliding frame, and an arched standard, IE at the rear end of said frame. These parts may be formed in one piece of metal or in separate pieces bolted together. Theplate Eis secured to the T-bar D adjust-ably, by means of bolts andnuts at e e, inserted through slots 0.

F is standard or upright, secured to the stationary frame A A at its rear end.

The sliding frame above described is moved forward by means of a screw-threaded shaft, G, which is supported in the standard F, at the rear end of the stationary frame, and in a corresponding standard, A, at the front end of the stationary frame, as fully set forth in my previous patents.

H is a bevel-wheel, keyed to the screw-shaft G, which latter extends to the rear of the standard F sufficiently far to support it.

I is a small bevel-wheel, mounted on and rotated by the shaft 0. It engages with the wheel H, and through these devices the power is transmitted to the screw-shaft G.

K represents the'nut-holder, and indicates the position of the nut,which is caused to engage with the screw shaft when the sliding frame is to be thrust forward toward the coal. The construction in detail of this nut-holder and nut need not here be described, as they are fully shown and described in my previous patents, I preferring to use that shown in Patent No. 232,280, September 14, 1880. When the nut is engaged with the shaft, the forward cylindrical part, 70, of the nut-holder bears against the front standard, E, of the stationary frame. the shaft by sliding it on the same in the manner set forth in the last aforesaid patent. With my present construction I not only carry the cutting apparatus forward by means of the screw-threaded shaft, but I also impart the required motion to said apparatus from this same shaft.

L represents the cutter-bar, which also may The nut can be disen a ed from be of any of the characters I have heretofore shown and patented; and L L are the chains for rotating said bar. The chains receive motion from a shaft, M, mounted on the plate E of the sliding frame. M is a miter-pinion attached to the shaft M.

N is a short supplemental shaft, mounted in said plate E, on a line situated in the same vertical plane as'the screw-shaft G, and in the same horizontal plane as the rear chain-shaft, M.

N is a bevel-wheel, mounted at the front end of the short shaft N, and engaging with the miter-wheel M.

Power is applied to the shaft N by means of a spur-wheel,0, keyed to the rear end of said shaft, and a spurwheel, P, mounted on the screw-shaft G. The shaft G engages with the wheel P by means of a feather or spline on the wheel fitted within a slot running parallel to the axis of the screw. Thus the wheel, while rotating with the screw, is at the same time permitted to traverse the screw longitudinally. and as the cutter-carriage is moved forward, said Wheel is moved along the shaft by means of the rear standard, E which, as will be seen by an examination of the drawings, is so situated as to bear against the rear face of the wheel.

1) is a boss projecting from the face of the wheel and arranged to provide a mounting for it within the standard E 11 is also a boss projecting from the opposite side or face of the wheel.

It will now be seen that if power he applied to shaft 0 in the direction of the arrow 1 in Fig. 2, the screw-shaft will be rotated, and, as a result, the wheels 1?, O, N, and M will be rotated in such direction as to rotate the cutter properly for cutting the coal, and if the nut at Kbe held inengagement with the screw the cutter-carriage will be at the same time moved forward 5 but as it isdesirable to move the machine forward with a speed different from that which it would obtain in the manner last-described I interpose between the nut and the power devices the following mechanism:

Q is a spur-wheel keyed to shaft N, and Q is a spur-wheel of diameter equal thereto and keyed to the cylindrical portion 7a of the nutholdcr. By an examination of the drawingsit will be seen that the wheels Q Q differ in diameter from the wheels 0 and P to such an extent that while the wheel 0 is rotating the cutters, the wheel Q is rotating the nut-holder K in the same direction as the screw-shaft G is rotating, and that the result of the rotations of the shaft and of the nut is to move the nut forward with a speed lower than it would have if operated directly by the screw-shaft G. The nut-holder can readily rotate around the screwshaft, owing to the smooth cylindrical inner surface of the holder lo k.

In order to prevent wear of the parts to as great a degree as possible, washers g; 9 may be employed at the points where the screwshaft bears backward against the stationary standard F,and where the nut bears against the sliding standard E. The rear end of the nut-carrier 7c surrounds the boss p on wheel P, which provides a bearing for it.

By'means of the slotted plate E and the adjusting-bolts at e e the chains L L may be adj usted so as to keep them alwaysproperly tight.

By mounting the engine in the manner which I have described and applying power directly therefrom to the screwthreaded shaft, and by arranging. the parts so that said shaft shall not only move the carriage forward, but shall also rotate the cutters, I am enabled to provide a much simpler construction than heretofore, and to place the parts of the machine more compactly than can be done when several chains are necessary for imparting the power to produce the various required motions.

In many mines the material to be operated upon is-so hard that it is almost impossible to cut itwith steel, and l have devised a pcculiar construction of cutter-bar and cutters for the purpose of producing a kerfi.

. My improved cutter-bar is represented by L, and is shown to be mounted and rotated substantially as heretofore.

lrepresents a helical projection around the bar. The outer face of thehelical projection l is armed with diamonds Z. These diamonds are so placed that when revolving each vertical plane throughout the whole face or space of the kerf shall be covered or traversed by one or more of the diamonds. V g

I am aware that diamonds have, been used upon the ends of drills, both reciprocating and revolving; but when thus arranged they are not available for my purpose. It will be seen that I arrange them between the ends of the revolving support in such positions that they shall rotate in planes transverse to the axis of said revolving support. This arrangement i enables me to cut a long kert by thrustingforward the bar which supports the diamond.

The cutter-bar may be of any desired length and diameter, and the projection of the diamonds from the bar may be varied as circumstances require. I prefer a projection of about three-fourths of an inch. The pitch of the coil or helix may also be greater or less than that shown In order to remove the material lyingin the path of the chains and the sprockets L of the cutter-shaft, said sprockets may be provided with diamonds l for cutting away the material in said path, or they may have cutters attached like those in my former patents. The diamonds may, if preferred, be arranged in lines parallel with the axis of the cutter, or without regularity relatively to each other.

To withdraw the cutting mechanism from the coal after the operation of cutting has been completed, use may be made of any of the devices shown in my aforesaid patents; but in,

the drawings I have shown two devices ,or

mechanisms for this purpose, especially adapted to machines whose parts are constructed and arranged as above set forth.

D represents a screw-threaded shaft mounted on the stationary frame of the machine parallel to the shaft G, the two shafts having their axes in the same horizontal plane.

D is a spur-wheel attached to the shaftD at any suitablepoint, and meshing with a wheel, G, on the screw-threaded shaft Gr.

'FF represent, respectively, theupper and the lower parts of a nut carried by the movable frame, and arranged to be engaged with or (lisengaged from the shaft D, at the will of the operator. When the cutter-frame is movin g forward the nut F F is disengaged from shaft E, the nut K being at that time in en- The nut F F may be attached to the frame at any desirable point, though I prefer to join it thereto by means of the standard E at the rear end of the frame, said standard being formed of a peculiar shape adapted to support the nut, the supporting device being distinotly shown in Fig. 4.

E is an upright attached to or formed with the standard E. It is provided with a dovetailed groove, 6", upon its outer face. The parts F F of the detachable nut carry dove tailed tongues or plates ff, which are fitted within the groove 6 E is a stud-shaft projecting outwardly from standard E. H

I1. and E represent cams or eccentrics rigidly secured to the stud-shaft E and situated diametrically opposite to each other.

E is a handle attached to the eccentrics and E and by means thereof said eccentrics may be simultaneously rotated around the stud'shaft E.

F is a strap around the eccentric E and pivoted to the dovetailed plate f. j

F is a stirrup or yoke pivoted at its lower end to the dovetailed plate f, and at its upper end formed with a strap, F which fits the eccentric E By examining Figs. 4 and 5 it will be seen that, by means of the devices just described, the nut F F maybe at any instant disengaged from shaft D, or engaged therewith, by simply turning the handle E In Fig. 7 I have shown a devicefor withdrawing the cutting mechanism in many respects similar to those shown in myprevious patents above mentioned. In said figure R represents a shaft mounted above the rear standard, F. It is a spool or reel keyed to the shaft R, and R is a sliding pinion supported loosely upon the same shaft. The pinion carriesa conical hub, 0, which can be caused to engage with theflaringorconicalrecess formed in the end ofthe spool R in amanner substantially similar to that shown in Patent No. 232,280, September 14, 1880. The pinionmay be shifted upon the shaft R by a lever engaging at r with the sleeve, which carries the pinion R Power may be carried from the engine-shaft O to the pinion R by a spur-wheel, S, on said shaft and idler-wheels S S U represents a rope or chain, which at one end is attached to the spool or reel R, and at the other end is secured to the sliding carriage by means of an eye, a. To withdraw the cutters by devices of this character the pinion R is moved'so as to cause the hub r to engage with spool R, (the nut at K being disengaged from shaft G,) whereupon the said spool is ro-- tated with shaft R, the rope U is wound around the spool and the sliding frame is drawn back until it reaches the standard E.

In order to more clearly show the cleanerchainsand the devices which support and operate them, I have shown them, together with said devices. in a separate view in Fig. 6. They are, however, in practice attached to the construction shown in Fig. 1, as will be'readily understood, there being no modification whatever required of such construction to receive the chains.

Referring particularly to Fig. 6, O represent-s a shaft mounted on the slidingcarriage on a line parallel to the cutter-bar and between said bar and the front standard, A, of the stationary frame. At the outer ends of these shafts there are sprockets 0.

O O are short shafts mounted in yokes or stirrups 0 0 These yokes or stirrups are supported by the brackets P P, bolted at their inner ends to the sliding carriage of the machine, as shown at 19 The brackets P extend outwardly over the top of the stationary sills A A. The yokes or stirrups O are attached to the overhanging brackets P by means of screw-threaded stems or shanks O", which pass through apertures in the brackets make for their reception. The position of each yoke or stirrup can be readily adjusted by means of the nuts and in this way the tension of the chain can be regulated- The short shafts O are provided with sprockets 0. The cleaner chains Q are mounted upon the shafts O and O and are arranged to engage with the sprockets 0 and 0. Q Q are loops of metal attached to the sides of the chain at suitable intervals. They are formed with feet or lugs (1, through which pass the pivots or connectingpins of the chains Q. These loops Q serve to gather and withdraw the slack or cuttin gs made by the cutters, and to carry them away from the kerf.

sprocket-wheels shown in the other figures,

though either may be employed, as desired.

Many of the devices shown and described in this patent are also found in another case, the application for which was filed October 5, 1880, and patented of even date herewith. Hence, I do not claim herein anything shown or disscribed in the said other case referred to.

What I claim is- 1. In a mining-machine, the combination of the following elements, viz: a stationary bedframe, a sliding cutter-frame, a screw-threaded shaft arranged to advance the cutter-frame, and a second screw-threaded shaft parallel with the first-named shaft and connected there} with by gearing, and thereby to be rotated continuously when the cutter-sh aft is being ro'; tated, substantially as set forth.

2. In a miningmachine, the combination of the following elements, viz a stationary bedframe, a sliding cutter-frame, ascrew-t-hreaded shaft arranged to advance the cutter-frame, and a second screw-threaded shaft arranged to' withdraw the cutter-frame and to be operated.

by the other said screw-threaded shaft, substantially as set forth.

"3. The combination, with a stationary frame, a sliding frame, and a rotating screw-threaded shaft mounted upon the stationary frame, of the detachablenut-sections F E the pivotedeccentrics E E and the straps F F respectively attached to the nut-sections F F. 4. In a mining-machine, the combination,

with a rotating bar, of diamonds arranged be- 5. 111 a mining-machine, the combination,

with rotating bar L, of the projection I, extending from the face of the bar, and the diamonds l, embedded within said projection between the ends of the bar, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The combination, with the sliding cutterframe, of the overhanging brackets P, the yokes or stirrups 0 the sprocket-shafts O, and the chains Q, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination, with the cleaner-chains Q, of the loops Q attached to the sides of said chains, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affixmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS M. LEOHNER.

Witnesses J. L. LYNAS, GURT MAIN.

IIO 

